As I calmly stated last week and rightfully predicted that we would get more snow, we certainly did get another significant snowstorm and a more minor snowstorm at the end of the week.

From Monday to Tuesday, during the night, we received almost 13 inches of beautiful white powdery snow. It looks fantastic, but I must spend some hours clearing the snow.

Thankfully I have a awesome UTV with the plow attachment, so clearing the driveway only takes 30-40 minutes. I can do it faster, but I enjoy clearing snow, moving it into the forest, and then spending another 30 minutes with the snowblower to clear the path to the house.

I go out a few times to keep each pass easier when it snows heavily. While the plow works well, you do not want more than 6-8 inches of snow to move. The thicker the snow, the more time you must go over the path.

I plowed at 7 am and 1 pm. Once during the snowstorm and once when it had stopped snowing, it is an excellent cardio exercise on a Tuesday morning.

Mother Nature decided to sprinkle more snow during the night from Friday to Saturday, but this time only 2-3 inches. We received 14-16 inches of snow in just one week.

The local ski and tubing places and the kids were delighted.

The schools were closed, and I worked from home, but that does not mean I got help from the kids clearing the snow. However, they do help clear the snow from the cars.

I’ll extend my protein-rich dinners this week while I get a break from making school lunches, as the kids are off the whole week.

However, that means I have more time to make a lot of extra items from scratch. I love making and experimenting with food, and we enjoy the taste of homemade stuff.

We need to make more food from scratch to know what ingredients are being added. Homemade food is healthier than storebought, but buying already-made bread, condiments, broths, etc is easier.

Fat Tuesday

Before last week, I knew little about Fat Tuesday and assumed it was an American-invented holiday. You can easily be confused about the origin, given the size of the dinner plates in the US and the amount of unhealthy food available.

Little did I know that Fat Tuesday is the English translation of Mardi Gras, which is tied to Catholic Lent. It is the last night of eating fatty foods before you start the season as part of Lent.

As such, Fat Tuesday was “born” and now explains why families use the day to eat fatty foods.

However, I only thought it would cover dinner, but I guess families have extended to cover the whole day and indulge in unhealthy food throughout the day: pancakes, waffles, filled sweet buns, ice cream, and burgers.

Danish Pate

It is hard to explain, but all countries have food that is engrained in their history and part of their culture. Food is core to our lives, and the tastes are implanted in our minds.

Some foods may look odd to other cultures, but they are part of our daily lives in Denmark.

I have eaten pork liver pate ever since I could eat solid food. In my early years, my mum made liver pate from scratch, but like other food, buying it premade in the supermarket is easier.

Our local butcher made and sold the preferred pate, and we would buy at least two large pates per week.

We would eat it for school and work lunches on rye bread with bacon or pickled beetroot slices. Everybody ate it, and we also got a few slices of bread with pate when we came home.

So, when you leave Denmark, liver pate is the food we long for. I would buy a few packs of pate when visiting Denmark or the family visiting us in Ireland or the US.

I’ve attempted to make pate several times but could not access the right ingredients. It would turn out dry and not taste the same as when my mum made it.

Having lived in the area for almost ten years now, I’ve made a lot of contacts. The farmer from whom I buy a quarter cow has recently started to sell pork meat. I asked for liver and pork fat and was delighted to get a few packages.

Yesterday, I made a massive batch of liver pate using pork liver, fat, spices, and milk and baked it for almost an hour.

The result? Amazing. I’m so proud of myself. We have plenty of pate for the fridge and even more for the freezer.

Home Prepping

While making liver pate from scratch, I made a few other delicious food items. I got inspired to do more freshly made goods, which I did.

• I made a tray of no-bake protein bars for my wife. She is doing a lot of fitness and weightlifting these days and needs to refill.
• I made a simple cheesecake, including the crust, with a strawberry topping for my wife and her church group.
• I made a fresh batch of pickled jalapenos and added garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh ginger.
• I started the curing process for pork belly to get some homemade bacon.
• I’ll be simmering some lovely beef bones, making bone broth.
• Lastly, I made Danish rye bread for my Danish liver pate.

Week Eight Meals

I’ve made several delicious protein dinners for the past couple of weeks, and I’m surprised by how simple and varied they are. Each meal contains good meat and vegetables and fills you up. I’ll continue the success of making protein-rich dinners.

School Lunches

The kids are enjoying a whole week off from school and winter break so that they can make their lunches. I bought a bag of freshly made bagels Saturday, placed them in the freezer, and then the kids can eat.

I deserve to have a break sometimes, too, from making school lunches.

Dinner Time

My son loves the movie Ratatouille, so I decided to attempt to make the famous Ratatouille dish. It looks a lot more complicated than it is. I was surprised by how few ingredients were used, and I spent more time trying to place the vegetables nicely.

I will admit finding vegetables of the same size is impossible, hence the various sizes. But it came out well despite it being a vegetarian dish. I made a few garlic sausages on the side in case we needed meat.

Two of the meals were served as bowls with fresh vegetables this week, so I only prepared the ground beef and the salmon. I will cut and serve the vegetables on the day.

I made a big portion of garlic butter chicken with zucchini and corn and a simple shrimp with stir-fried vegetables.

Meal Prep Party Pictures

Meal Plan

	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Winter Break No lunches prepared	Garlic butter chicken with zucchini and corn
Tuesday	Winter Break No lunches prepared	Mediterranean salmon bowl
Wednesday	Winter Break No lunches prepared	Shrimp and vegetable stir fry
Thursday	Winter Break No lunches prepared	Health ground beef dinner bowl
Friday	Winter Break No lunches prepared	Friday night fire pit wonders

Have a fantastic week, my friends. I hope you enjoy these meal plans. It is much easier to make food in advance, although you must invest several hours preparing meals during the weekend.

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